Alex Haley: January 23, 1977

Jet, Jan 26, 1998

Roots, an adaptation of Alex Haley's best-selling novel by the same name, made television history in its premiere on this day. The miniseries, presented on eight consecutive evenings, was viewed by more Americans than any other program since the invention of television. Some 130 million people watched the series.

Roots told the story of Haley's family from the kidnapping of one of his ancestors, Kunta Kinte, from West Africa in the mid-18th century by slave traders through the adversities of slavery in Virginia and North Carolina to the family's migration to Tennessee after the Civil War. Haley spent 12 years researching and writing the phenomenal story, which had become a best-seller even before the television program. By February 20, 1977, it was the No. 1-selling book in the nation.